


All Hallows' Eve

by Mierke



Category: Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 15:12:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8332360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: June lets Chloe pick out her Halloween costume. Heavily inspired by the episode Love and Monsters.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mazily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mazily/gifts).



"No slutty nurse. Or slutty devil. Or slutty school girl. You know what? No slutty anything."

"No sluttiness. Boring, but noted."

"And it should mean something, not just be some random assortment of clothes or 'princess' or 'pirate' or something."

"Meaningless costumes are off the table, okay."

They looked at each other for a moment.

"Why are you agreeing to everything I ask?" 

Chloe shrugged, a smile on her face and June squinted her eyes suspiciously. She couldn’t quite remember how she had gotten roped in to letting her roommate pick out her Halloween costume, but it was way too late to back out now. She could always just stay home if she didn't like it.

\--

The autumn wind bit at her skin, but surprisingly June revelled in the feeling. She had never felt this free, this giddy almost with the idea that she had - quite literally - let everything fall away and let the world see her as she was. It felt amazing, and she wondered how Chloe always seemed to know what she needed better than she herself did. 

\--

"You already have my costume picked out, don't you?" June asked a couple of days later, and Chloe's smile hinted at a vast pit of secrets. 

"Don't worry," she said. "I've picked out something you'll love. She's a feminist icon, she's _perfect_ for you. And I’ve remembered all your criteria. The costume will be authentic, I promise."

For a second June let herself believe that this would work out fine - after all, she did love her feminist icons - but Chloe's smile returned and June reminded herself of who she was talking to.

\--

She was just grateful it wasn't raining. The cold she could handle, focussing on the warmth that radiated from the body underneath her and the knowledge of things to come, but rain would have been harder to deal with. Thus she rode, gracefully, gratefully, bravely. 

\--

"Have you thought of what you are going to wear yet?"

Chloe all but rolled her eyes at her.

"We're going to have matching costumes, duh."

"Matching costumes. You and me?" June asked, wondering why she was even still surprised. 

"Yes. Which reminds me, want to make this interesting?"

June looked up at Chloe, who was leaning against the couch June was lying on. She was already so far in; why not jump that last bit? Halloween was going to be special this year either way.

"Sure," she said, hoping her voice didn't betray any of the underlying fear that she wouldn't even allow herself to feel, let alone her roommate to hear. "What'd you have in mind?"

"If you like your costume, which you will, you'll go out with me."

"Like, on a date?" June said, a little squeak in her voice as she sat upright on her couch.

"You don't date," she added, a little confused.

"I don't date _men_ ," Chloe amended. "Women, though, that's a whole different story."

June blinked, trying to file away this new information.

"What do I get if I win?" she asked, proud of herself for standing up for her own wants and needs, and of her voice for not wavering even one little bit.

"Whatever you want," Chloe said, spreading her arms as if to encompass the whole wide world. "Name it. You want me to stop drinking? To not bother you in the bathroom anymore? To give you back all the fluffy clothes I've been stealing because they're awful?"

"That's where my clothes are!" June exclaimed, but Chloe waved her arm as if it didn't matter.

"They're warm and comfortable and you've got to stop stealing my stuff," June muttered under her breath. 

\--

The end of her journey came nearer, and a whole new kind of nervousness washed over June. Even the ride had been child’s play compared to what came next; she'd been in costume, and she knew no one was looking at her. Even if someone cheated - she wasn't so naive that she believed everyone truly adhered to their roles - it didn't matter all that much, because they'd never own up to it and she'd never see any of them again. And the one person who she _knew_ was looking? Well, she kind of liked the idea of those eyes on her (and that made her all the more nervous).

\--

"A wig," June screamed. "My costume is _a wig_?!"

"It's a wig with very long hair," Chloe amended. "The hair will cover your breasts. I'd suggest riding sidesaddle, that might be a little more comfortable than riding astride. I arranged for an appropriate saddle. Though apparently, some women back then chose to ride astride, did you know that?"

"Riding?" June asked, still looking aghast from the wig in her hands to her roommate, who seemed to be wearing some kind of mediaeval boys' costume. 

"You didn't think I'd arrange for half a costume, did you? Lady is outside, waiting for you."

"Lady?" June repeated again, flabbergasted.

"I thought it fitting," Chloe shrugged. "A horse named Lady for the Lady Godiva."

"Where did you get a horse in New York City?" June wondered, then shook her head. "Never mind, it's not important. How could you think I'd like this?"

"June," Chloe said. "Lady Godiva was an icon. She challenged her own husband to lower the taxes on her people. She was caring, and brave, and put others' needs before her own. She seemed like the perfect fit for you."

Was there a compliment hidden somewhere in there, or had that been an accident? Even if there had been, June decided, it had probably been just to distract her from the issue at hand.

"You want me to ride _naked_ through New York City and you expect me to be okay with this? How…?"

"Who said anything about New York City, June?" Chloe asked, exasperated. "I told you it would be authentic, and don't you know I always keep my promises? Lady Godiva didn't just randomly start riding through Coventry, she had everyone stashed up in their houses and forbade them to watch. I've talked with Their Royal Majesties of the East Kingdom, and they jumped at the chance to re-enact this legendary tale. The street you'll be riding down will be flanked by medieval homes with people who have boarded themselves up. These people take their tales seriously, June; no one will see you ride."

June blinked, feeling the excitement rising within her. Medieval re-enactment, what better way to spend her Halloween?

"I guess you're Peeping Tom," she said dryly, finally making sense of Chloe's costume.

"Exactly!" Chloe exclaimed. "Now you get it."

"This is..." June said, at a loss for words. 

"I know," Chloe preened, and she steered June out the door.

\---

"Wasn't Halloween all about making someone's deepest, darkest fears come true?" June asked, suddenly as awake as if someone had dropped a bucket of ice cold water over her. Had this all been some elaborate prank to hurt her? Because if it had been, she'd never... She'd... 

"I did," Chloe mumbled, and she dragged June closer to her. "Now sleep."

Before June could demand a more elaborate answer, before she could succumb to the fear and doubts that had started rearing their ugly heads the moment she remembered Chloe's tradition (how had she not remembered before, how was that something a person could just forget...?), she heard Chloe murmur something else.

"I fell in love."


End file.
